The psychology behind the perplexing toilet paper panic

With coronavirus fear ramping up across the country, people are starting to stock up on essential items in case a self-quarantine is needed. Some people are even stocking up on some less than essential items like toilet paper.

Even in Saskatchewan, where there has yet to be a reported case of coronavirus, the Costcos can’t keep toilet paper in stock for more than half a day.

“People are out buying hand sanitizer and they are buying non-perishable items so that they have those on hand in case they are needed,” said University of Regina Psychologist, Gord Asmundson.

“Toilet paper, on the other hand, is different because we don’t necessarily need that. We haven’t been told that we need that, specific to COVID-19. So why are people doing it? Well, it’s basically fear-based.”

Asmundson says, psychologically, fear can be contagious and spread quickly, similar to how a disease or virus can.

“People are rushing out and buying toilet paper because it looks like we need it. We are seeing everybody else doing it and there is this false sense of urgency that ‘man, if I don’t get some toilet paper I’m going to be left without.’ But there is no reason to be out fighting over toilet paper,” he said, referring to a video of a fistfight in an Australian grocery store that has been circling the web.

“Stores get it in every day, but there’s this perception that there is going to be a scarcity. But the truth of the matter is you really don’t need to have more than a couple of weeks’ supply of toilet paper. So it is really perpetuated by fear which makes us do some illogical things.”

Interestingly enough, the toilet paper shortage seems to only be affecting Costcos, while most other grocery stores continue to be well-stocked in it.

Asmundson speculates that this may be because Costco is the first place people think of when needing large quantities of any given item. But he also says some of the same social media-driven monkey-see, monkey-do might be happening that has people panic-buying toilet paper in the first place.

“I think the other thing is fueled by what we see on social media because some of the first images of the shortage of toilet paper were images of Costco being sold out, so then there is the association with Costco as well,” said Asmundson.

At the same time that people are being driven by fear and anxiety into stocking up on non-essential items like toilet paper, the opposite is also happening.

Stories get shared on social media about people testing positive for the virus but forgoing a self-quarantine, possibly putting many others at risk of also contracting the virus.

Asmundson says having people reacting at these two extremes is common for any kind of world-wide disease outbreak.

“We know that psychological factors play a really important role in the mitigation of viral spread,” he said.

“People have differences in personality and some people feel vulnerable. And then there are people at the other end of the spectrum where they may feel invulnerable to illness or to threats against themselves and they may feel that they don’t need to adhere to the recommendations that will help stop the spread of the virus.”

An employee at Saskatoon’s southeast Costco location says more toilet paper will be coming in each morning, but she expects the supply to be gone in the first hour again.